20 Backgrounds: Harry Potter
by Mx4
Summary: Some behind the scenes stories of the Harry Potter universe. Done in roughly 20 truths style. Hope it stays interesting.
1. Groundwork

A/N: The idea for the first shot came from something I've noticed in all the fics that deal with the wizarding world's population or the idea of how many wizards are in the world in any sort of detail. Whenever they talk about the amount of wizards in the world, there's always the idea that no matter how many of them there were, the muggles always outnumbered them, especially (in the better stories) after the Black Plauge wiped out a good portion of their already limited population. Since the only two explanations that might fit that were either divine intervention or genes, I decided to essentially make wizards the red-heads of the human population. Plentiful now, but steadily dying out no matter what they try to do.

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1. One of the most well-kept secrets of the wizarding world can be summed up in one word: Genetics. The genes that grant witches and wizards everywhere their extraordinary abilities are recessive ones. This is why, despite inter-marrying with supposedly 'inferior' muggles to keep the magic alive, there are less wizards and more squibs every year, why there are more and more magical school shut-downs, and why when many wizards talk about how much stronger the older generation's magical abilities used to be; they aren't exaggerating or lying. They are merely stating a casual, but subtly terrifying fact.


	2. Preemptive

A/N: The second idea came from how Merlin is always such a mythical and mysterious figure even in the fan stories involving him. I figured that, like everything else, he had something to do with why the wizarding world is the way it is today. Because he was one of the most powerful of his kind, not too difficult to imagine him changing the course of an entire population of people, keeping them recessive instead of letting the dominant allele take its place. Just kinda food for thought. Oh, and if I didn't already mention this in the first one, I own and lay claim to nothing of Harry Potter, Merlin or anything else that has any copyright claim whatsoever.

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2. Despite what most people (wizard and muggle alike) believe of him, the great and powerful Merlin was just as human as anyone else. He foresaw a future when the whole human race would have powers just like his own. He foresaw a peacefulness, a serenity that was unmatched by anything his magic had yet let him experience. Which was why when his vision continued, and showed him a horrifying rise up of the darkness within and outside the earth, eventually consuming the people; it chilled him to his very core. His better nature would not allow him a moment of rest until he found a way to prevent the apocalyptic annihilation of his own kind. It took him twelve years as well as every ounce of cunning, logic and resourcefulness he possessed to trace back to the moment where it all began.

When he finally found the catalytic moment, the reason it all began, he knew what had to be done and did so without hesitation. He gained young Arthur Pendragon's trust, got close to him, and when the pre-ordained time came, he steered Arthur away from the one who would strengthen him, and into the one who would be his ultimate weakness and final undoing, unwittingly saving yet condemning the entire wizarding race. The fact that the younger of his last two living descendants does the exact same thing for closely related reasons so many centuries later leaves a bitter taste in his (non-existent) mouth. Because he now knows what his descendant shall soon discover for himself: That the best of intentions are also those which blind men the best.


	3. Founding

A/N: I own nothing and lay claim to nothing. Now that that's out of the way, I can explain. This is actually one of my favorite ideas that came from both fanon and canon. From what I can tell, everyone assumes that even if he was an okay guy, Slytherin was actually still a pureblood, thus explaining his house's fascination with it. But no one except for the people who put Harry in Slytherin or make him a Slytherin in disguise make him actually question why the Gryffindors are so violent. And one story that had Harry esentially raise himself as part of a muggle gang actually made Molly and Ron Weasley assume that because Harry hadn't had a proper wizarding influence and had been in that 'horrible situation,' it meant that he was automatically inferior and could be controlled. And frankly, it suited them so well that it was kind of disturbing. That, and in the muggle world, where it isn't possible to erase people's memories or change things with the wave of a stick, it is extremely possible for people to pervert what was said by someone else (look no furthur than Neiztche's sister for your nearest example.) So, viola. The origin of the founding disagreements.

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3. The entire wizarding world has believed for years that Godric Gryffindor was the more noble and brave of the four Hogwarts founders and that Salazar Slytherin was the evil one, obsessed with the purity of wizarding blood. But, as with everything in life, the truth is much more complicated than people let themselves believe. Godric Gryffindor, so skilled at the arts of war, had no appreciation of peace. His parents had been murdered during a "peaceful" time by witchhunters who were utterly ruthless in their successful effort to destroy his family. Salazar Slytherin, supposedly obsessed with blood purity, was actually a muggle-born wizard. He was introduced to the wizarding world only in his late twenties, and by a very reluctant Ministry of Magic official named Ronan Cassius Black. Gryffindor, while very chivalrious and possessing a strong sense of justice, was embittered by his experiences and had wanted to teach the students more aggressive magics and life philosophies, to help them rise up against those who would suppress them as violently as they had his family. Slytherin, having essentially taught himself how to practice magic and live a normal life at the same time, disagreed.

He wanted the students to learn how to defend themselves, but to also be taught that for all their power, they were just as human as the muggles who hated them so. Gryffindor wanted to take all children who showed even the slightest hint of magic in so that they could be indoctrinated into the fold as young as possible, informed of their heritage ties as soon as possible. Slytherin wanted to be more careful, more selective about who would be accepted so they could be sure of teaching those who would lead their world in order for them to do so wisely and cautiously. It led them to quarrel after quarrel until finally, Slytherin couldn't abide by the other three founders mentality, which had led to the creation of three unforgivable spells, and left the wizarding world in disgust. Slytherin would never find out until after death that history is not written by who is right, but by who is left. And so, thanks to the tireless efforts of Godric Gryffindor, and the subtle but steady perversion of the Muggle Studies class that Slytherin had helped create, the attitude of superiority to muggles became integrated into wizarding society to the point that it was completely unconscious.

And ironically, the ones who could have most appreciated Slytherin's philosophy and heritage are often the ones who join Gryffindor, warned that the Slytherin house is nothing but 'pure blood obsessed freaks.' The sorting hat _might've_ been able to correct this wrong impression if not for the fact that nowadays, Slytherin house really is almost entirely 'pure blood obsessed freaks.' After all, the Just Gryffindor wouldn't have wanted his fellow founder's legacy remembered any other way.


	4. Motive

A/N: The idea for number four came from how so many people seem to have turned the Marauders into this sort of pranking machine that struck back at any and everyone because they felt they could. It frankly seemed a bit hypocritical that some of the things people would have the Marauders, James and Sirius in particular, do would've been condemned had anyone from Slytherin done it. Besides which, wherever there is light, there is always an equally large shadow. The whole ending of "James Potter's Marauders" is supposed to imitate the line about why no one at Harry's schools would be friends with him, i.e. Dudley. I always was kind of struck about how closely the two behaviors parallel each other, and so viola. So rises this.

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4. Contrary to popular opinion, James Potter was not obsessed with Lily Evans since she first came to Hogwarts. In fact, he did not even truly notice her until third year when he had cheated on and broken up with one of her roommates and awoke one morning to find that the large message "Skirt Chaser" had been charmed onto every single piece of clothing he owned in magically irremovable and shockingly pink nail polish. It was the most humiliating month and a half of his life, and from that moment onward he had vowed revenge against the one who had dared do this to him; the heir to the noble house of Potter. It took him months of ferreting around, weaseling and more than a few bribes before he had discovered the name of the culprit responsible.

He vowed twofold to get this arrogant witch Evans back for what she had done to him. He planned to turn the full Potter charm on her, get her hopelessly addicted to him, and then leave her. It would serve her right to be humiliated as he had. So he began to attempt to get her to go out with him. Much to his annoyance, she didn't even seem to respect him, much less be affected by the 'Potter Charm.' He resentfully speculated about her sexual orientation behind her back. She never dignified those that spread his rumor with a response. It took him years and years to finally get her to go out with him. But by the time he did manage to get her out, he'd already managed a form of revenge, not just on her, but on someone else he'd hated for the longest time. He'd noticed that the greasy haired Severus Snape had been friends with her no matter the fact that he was a Slytherin and she was a Gryffindor. His persistent bullying of Snape and attempts at winning Evans had put them at odds with one another until finally the Slytherin punk snapped and showed his true colors by calling her a mudblood to her face. So when James finally managed to bag Evans, he was convinced that he loved her, and had proved his love by freeing her from the vial, scheming clutches of the slimy, entirely too serious Snivellus.

But his dormant, unacknowledged and primal inner-self took glee in the fact that he had managed to cause a far more exquisite misery in her personal life than his simple plan of 'love her and leave her' ever would have been able to. He had managed to drive an irreversible wedge between two people who by all accounts, had been as close friends as he and the other Marauders had been to each other, perhaps closer. Snape, for all his flaws, had been a far closer friend to her even than any of the girls she knew. With him gone, she was virtually a social outcast and thanks to James's well placed threats to others who might've sympathized with her, she was pursued by none and remained entirely friendless until her sixth year when she finally caved in and started going out with him. It was only after they were going out that the other students began to treat her kindly once more. After all, James and his friends had made it quite clear that she was not to be approached. And no one liked to disagree with Potter's gang.


	5. Past Sin

A/N: Nothing claimed, nothing owned. The fifth shot here came from the idea that there's a reason Harry never really protests the way the Dursleys treat him, even after finding out he was a wizard. Harry always did seem to be one of the people who'd carry guilt over an accident with him the rest of his life. This was also meant to partially explain (to my mind anyway) why even after all the crap Ron puts him through, and Hermione's consistantly acting more like the best friend, why Harry still didn't get as close to Hermione as he did Ron. The relationship between the three always struck me as a bit odd, truth be told.

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5. Whenever Harry is asked by others if the Dursleys abuse him at home and he answers no, he is telling a partial truth. When Harry was young and first left on the doorstep, he truly was taken in (in every sense of the word) by Petunia if not Vernon. Despite all of their arguments and disagreements, Petunia really did want to honor her sister Lily's memory. She had after all, been family. But, unfortunately, this state was not meant to last. The turning point would occur at Dudley's sixth birthday party.

It was supposed to be a small, quiet gathering between only their most intimate of friends and family. Dudley's friend, Sam Conally however, was there. Harry and Sam had never really gotten along, but for everyone else's sake, they tried. However, fate had other plans, and so brought them to a head. No one could truly recall what had happened between the two children only that it had escalated quickly. Perhaps shin kick was answered with shove; shove provoked a slap, slap responded to with push. But in any case, the fight ended with a cracked skull and a lifeless body.

Sam's parents, even overcome with grief as they were, never did press charges, instead opting to leave the country in an effort to forget. The intensive therapy Harry underwent as a result of that incident was the last truly kind thing Petunia would do for him. The Dursley (adults anyway) never physically hurt him, even after that. But from that day forward, Dudley tormented his cousin and those like him, Petunia and Vernon ignored or emotionally destroyed Harry (hoping that his magic would leave him), and for the rest of his life, Harry Potter would never be truly able to let a certain brunette girl fully into his heart, her face overlaid by a similar and haunting visage as a constant and karmic reminder of the darkness within he tries (and fails) to escape every day of his life.


	6. Temptation

A/N: I own and lay claim to nothing contained herein. The sixth idea arose from the idea of the Potters being distantly related to Gryffindor, and was written before the final book was. The founders always come across in canon as being very distant, very unapproachable concepts more than they do people. This was an effort at making them (at least, Gryffindor and Slytherin, the two everyone loves to watch duke it out) more human and fleshed out. Plus, even if you want to dismiss the Chamber of Secrets taunting Tom Riddle gave Harry during the showdown in second year, you can't deny the dude at least had a valid point to make. After all, isn't the old saying: "There but for the grace of god go I" still around for a reason? Oh, and before I forget, many thanks to Tentrees for being the only person to review this fic thus far. It may be creativity that makes the mind go, but it's feedback that stops it from spinning out of control.

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6. Harry Potter has always been proud of his distant relation to Godric Gryffindor. What never occurred to him (or most anyone else for that matter) is that the founders, for all their power and prestige, were still mortal beings of the flesh. Prone to the same weaknesses, irrational thoughts and poorly conceived actions as the rest of the human race. Helena Gryffindor, Godric's wife, was no exception to this truth. While she was a formidable witch in her own right, she had chosen early in life to marry and settle down with Godric. He was young, his flaming red hair gave him an aura of danger and he was passionate about most everything he did. It wasn't until she met...the other man that she really questioned her decision. Her other significant was an interesting man; on the shy side, a good speaker, passionate without being over-bearing and one of the most empathetic people she'd ever met. They flirted, danced around each other for a time before finally entering into a mutually illicit affair. The fact that he was sometimes more considerate of her than her own husband was psychological icing on the figurative forbidden cake. It went on undetected for years before she found herself heavy with the other man's child. They both agreed it would be best to break the affair off, but that didn't stop it from hurting when he left for good. When his child was finally born, she told her husband that it was his heir. This gave her dark, inner-self a perverse sense of happiness. Not only because Godric never suspected a thing, (who would dare to cheat on one of the mightiest wizards of all time?) but because she could relish the fact that even as his tolerance of her deteriorated still further over the years, he had no legitimate heirs to speak of and didn't even know it. (Godric's own indiscretions would eventually lead to the distantly related Dumbledore and Weasley family lines.) So in second year, when an unnaturally young Tom Riddle faced 12 year old Harry Potter and told Harry that they were strangely similar, he had probably, without even realizing it, never spoken truer words in his life.


	7. Childhood

A/N: Nothing owned, nothing claimed, nothing lost. Background seven comes from something I can't tell how many times I've seen in fanon. When reading Harry Potter stories that deal with pre-Hogwarts Hermione, she's always either one of two things: one of the nerds in school, or one of the kids who's abused (whether by her peers or her parents) without anyone noticing. This was my effort at turning that particular plot device on its head. Read, review, do what makes you happy.

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7. There is a reason Hermione Granger never mentions any of her primary school experiences to anybody she knows. In fact, it would send most who know her from Hogwarts or later in life into epileptic seizures or cardiac arrest if they were to be told that Hermione Granger had once been one of the popular kids at school. Ever since she had entered the United Kingdom's education system, Hermione showed a scholastic aptitude that was nearly unmatched in her year or the years surrounding her. However, she choose to use this intelligence to gain herself friends. She would help them cheat, she would get them answers in unobtrusive ways, and most importantly, she would use her wit to lay brutal verbal smack-downs upon anyone who annoyed her or her friends. By the time she reached the junior stage of her schooling, all of the senior teachers referred to her as Genghis Granger, perfectly capable and willing to reduce unprepared greenhorns to tears of frustration. By the end of another year however, a child transferred into their school who was smarter even than she. She quickly lost all of the friends she thought she had gained and was now completely alone, shunned by the former friends who had a new toy and shunned by former victims she had indirectly (and sometimes directly) tormented for the past four years. For her it was a godsend, getting that Hogwarts letter. She resolved that it was a new start, and that she should make the most of it. So she stopped worrying about the social hierarchy, found her necessary books for school and the rest as they say is history. Though not necessarily a chapter Hermione likes to reread by herself, let alone recite aloud to anyone she knows.


	8. Loyalty

A/N: Nothing owned, nothing gained. This marks the last of the pre-written shots that I already have done for this collection, and it was one that came from a very common idea in fanon. It's either the Gryffindors (through ignorance) or the Slytherins (through scheming) that are always portrayed as the bad guys within fan stories. I remember there was one story I read where it was some Ravenclaws who were responsible for the three unforgivable curses because they were obsessed with pure knowledge reguardless of the consequences. But throughout it all, Hufflepuff, despite being called the toss-away house by everyone else, is never really given a dark side. This was an attempt to remedy that situation.

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8. Despite the many stereotypes prevalent in the wizarding world, the most dangerous house in Hogwarts is not Slytherin. They may have turned out more obviously dark wizards than any other house, but that does not make them more dangerous than the other houses. In fact, since they're so busy attempting to satisfy their own personal ambitions, the only thing they occasionally unite on is their hatred of those they deem inferior (and not even then as the definition varies for each of them.) No, the most dangerous house in Hogwarts is Hufflepuff house. Literally loyal to a fault, when a Hufflepuff is behind a person or an ideal, it normally takes nothing short of divine intervention to change or sway them. Hufflepuffs, because they are generally pleasant to everyone, don't seem to be much of a threat at first. And yet...and yet nearly every minister of magic who has been in power during peacetime has been a Hufflepuff. Cornelius Fudge himself, was once a proud 'Puffie'. Even those not of Ministerial ambitions seem to gain great acclaim and influence because of their affable nature and/or much vaunted work ethic. Ludo Bagman still holds a fondness in his heart for the yellow and black stripes of his old house, and not just because they also happen to be his former team's colors. Before he fell from grace, Bartemius Crouch Sr. was considered a prime example of what a Hufflepuff should aspire to be. There is also the most extreme, but perhaps most telling case of Albus Severus Potter. It should come as no surprise, that when Harold and Ginevra Potter's son; Albus Severus arrives at his parent's alma mater, he is already sick to death of having to live up to not one, but three legacies. When he is accepted into Hufflepuff house, it is a minor disappointment for his parents. But as he grows, he gains their swelling pride as well as the loyalty of the British wizarding population, his kind manner, his quick mind and his firm, but sharp hand winning over virtually all who would oppose him. Soon, he is elected to office for an unprecedented 3 terms. After his parents are dead, he manages to elect himself Minister-ad-infinitum. But as he grows older, his vitality and youth wane, and he becomes obsessed with the process of escaping death, to guide his people for all time. The Department of Mysteries, almost entirely run by Hufflepuffs now, works feverishly to see if it can find a way to extend the Minister's life. Albus himself studies old tomes and sends curse-breakers out on dangerous quests to retrieve artifacts never meant for wizards. Eventually he discovers the power of horocruxes, through old research journals the former Lord Voldemort had left behind. Soon, Albus Severus becomes paranoid and mercurial in his processes and thoughts, the procedure of creating 7 horocruxes being such a trying and destructive one. He executes 'enemies of the state,' including any who do not stand full tilt by his decisions. Eventually, Hufflepuff is the only house left standing at Hogwarts, and the British Wizarding society officially shuts its doors to the rest of the world. No word is heard from them in nearly two decades until finally, a diplomatic party sent by the French Ministry of Magic finds itself in the deserted Atrium of the former British Ministry. No matter what site they search, nor what spells they cast, no hide or hair is ever found of what wizards and witches remained in England during Minister DXXVI's reign. Even in the future, stories are whispered around fire hearths, each tale more speculative than the last. Some say he left for the stars, taking them all with him. Others believe he's entombed them all in a sealed, underground world, waiting for the right time to claim ownership over the rest of the wizarding lands. Whatever the case, it is clear from what evidence remained: his people were loyal to him until the bitter end. True Hufflepuffs all.


	9. Friend

A/N: Nothing owned, nothing lost. Shot number nine was actually based on the idea proposed by reviewer fairyprincesst. It's not exactly why Ron is jealous, except for a brief mention of the Triwizard Tournament in the middle. See, I've come to realize that there's a reason I happen to dislike Ron quite a bit. The dude, from what most of the fandom (and hell, they're supported almost entirely by canon) indirectly says, holds pretty much all of the power in his relationship with both Hermione and Harry. They both take an incredible amount of crap from him, and literally, aside from a few moments of doubt, take him back with open arms. Why? Not because he's a great guy, and certainly not because he changes for the better over the course of the story. No, it's because he provides both Harry and Hermione with a sense of 'normalcy.' A big wide open armed family that both Harry and Hermione (if I've read what most fans say of them correctly) desire being only children and lonely growing up. That's why they're determined to the point of lunacy to keep Ron as a part of their group, and why despite betrayls, manipulations and temper tantrums that would've had him out on his butt faster than he could say 'unfair' to anyone else that they seem to be so desperate to have the approval of him and his family. This was my effort at explaining that Ron indirectly recognized it, and hence the reason why he tried (and succeeded) in getting away with so much.

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9. When Ronald Billius Weasley was first born, he was a surprisingly quiet baby. Not too much of a fuss was made unless he went in his diapers. Mostly he sat or lay with wide eyes, observing the usual hustle and bustle of the clan home. Once he began moving however, he quickly discovered that it was all too easy to get lost in the shuffle, to be lost in the crowd, even in his own home. He tried being loud, he tried to operate at their level. It made his brothers change his teddy bear into a giant spider. He still has the scars where it bit him, and he still sees them every single day. He stopped trying to keep up with them after that. It was simply too dangerous to do so. Instead, he aimed to drift, to let the waves of life coast him along. When he came to Hogwarts, he discovered by a stroke of luck, that the new black haired kid was in fact the famous Harry Potter. It wasn't so much a big effort on Ron's part to become friends with him, just the fact that Potter seemed to just…latch onto him. For three years he remained as such with him, seeing him through crisis after crisis, problem after problem. But in fourth year, it just became too much. It took too much to really put up with it every moment of every day. Potter had to live with it, but frankly, Ron didn't have to. So, he simply decided he wouldn't. It wasn't until he saw his raven haired companion face the Hungarian Horntail that it truly struck him how stuck in his own life he was. So, he approached Harry, wondering if he could be forgiven. After all, most anyone with even the most basic concept of friendship would've dumped someone who was so selfish, even for the one lapse. Once fallen, it becomes far easier to trip again, as his father would say to them. But surprisingly, he didn't have to say anything. Potter took him back with open arms, barely even a moment's hesitation. Ron wouldn't fully admit it mentally until much later in life, but it was that instance, that point that the relationship between all three of them tipped decidedly in Ron's favor. Despite his behavior, despite what his arrogance, despite his complete lack of regard of both of them beforehand, despite everything that he'd done, they still kept him around. And what was more; encouraged him to stay around! Ron realized that so long as he was a good boy, and only pushed them around on highly emotional issues, they would never leave him. No matter how much they excelled, strove to surpass their limits or tried to change the world around them, they still craved one thing above all else: a sense of normalcy. It would be this realization that would allow him to abandon them during the crux of their final mission and not only allow him to come back into the fold (getting said savior friend to defend him in the process), but allow him to come across as one of the heroes, maybe even…a more human hero than the other two. It was for this reason that Ron Weasley stayed with Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. They accepted him unconditionally because they **needed** him. And really, where else could a guy like him find such friends?


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